Demand Response Server Bandwidth Reduction via Peer Relay

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Solution Overview

Problem

Demand response application servers face high processing and bandwidth loads due to the need to directly communicate with numerous clients, leading to substantial communication overhead.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a bandwidth reduction module that configures peer clients to communicate indirectly with each other, allowing the server to only directly communicate with a subset of recipient peer clients, reducing the overall bandwidth and processing requirements.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the demand response application server directly communicates with all peer clients, then complete event dissemination is achieved, but bandwidth and processing loads increase substantially

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveevent dissemination completenessVSAvoidbandwidth consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces peer clients as intermediaries to relay event data between the server and other clients. Instead of the server directly communicating with all clients, event data flows through selected peer clients who distribute it to their associated clients, significantly reducing server bandwidth consumption while maintaining complete dissemination.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the client base into groups associated with different peer clients. Each peer client serves a subset of clients rather than the server serving all clients individually. This segmentation allows the server to communicate with fewer peer clients directly while still reaching all end clients through the peer network.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Speed

If the demand response application server directly communicates with all peer clients, then real-time event notification is achieved, but processing load increases substantially

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveevent notification speedVSAvoidprocessing load

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSPower

Solution Approach 1:

Peer clients act as intermediaries that receive event notifications from the server and propagate them to their associated clients. This reduces the server's processing load by eliminating direct communication with all clients while maintaining real-time notification speed through the peer relay mechanism.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The server performs partial communication actions by directly contacting only peer clients rather than all clients. This partial action is sufficient because peer clients subsequently distribute events to their associated clients, achieving complete coverage with reduced server processing requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Loss of energy

If the server communicates with a subset of peer clients only, then bandwidth requirements are reduced, but communication overhead is introduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebandwidth consumptionVSAvoidcommunication architecture complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces peer clients as intermediaries that simplify the overall communication architecture. While this adds a layer in the communication path, it reduces total bandwidth consumption by eliminating redundant server-to-client connections and leveraging the peer network for distribution.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Reliability

If direct server-to-client communication is implemented, then communication reliability is maintained, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication reliabilityVSAvoidserver configuration complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the communication responsibility between the server and peer clients. The server maintains reliable communication with peer clients, while peer clients handle distribution to their associated clients. This segmentation reduces server configuration complexity by eliminating the need to manage direct connections with all clients.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS11283903B2Demand response event dissemination system and method

Publication Date: 2022.03.22 FUJITSU LTD

AI summary

A method may include receiving peer data describing a set of peer clients associated with a demand response application server and describing how the peer clients communicate with one another. The peer data may be configured so that a subset of the peer clients directly communicate with the demand response application server and the demand response application server does not directly communicate with each of the peer clients. The method may also include receiving announcement data describing an event specified by the demand response application server and determining event response data responsive to the announcement data. The method may also include identifying, from the set of peer clients specified by the demand response application server, a set of recipient peer clients to receive the event response data.